The last potluck we had felt like something I've always wanted yet couldn't find anywhere in Austin...a place that was not a bar, that was not an academic lecture, that was a not a church, that was not a market filled with sales pressure, but simply a place for a humans to gather, grow a little something, share a little something and feel a sense of community and conversation.
It's here that I have to avoid the urge to protect this space, to control what happens here, even though I've been slowly scooched into a leadership role.
A question was brought up: Should we have a musical guest on our potluck days?
After the first potluck, I knew I wanted to send out a poll and see, for those of you who attended, how you'd feel about it. There were so many things that got in the way of doing that...that here we are, on the deadline to decide, with no realistic time frame to ask each of you and get a reply fast enough to make a collective decision.
So here's what we'll try, together, and for the next potluck, I want to hear from you, how you felt about it (especially those of you who attended both ways...with and without a musical guest).
My fears with a musical guest is that:
It will turn into one of the above situations (bar scene, church scene, etc.), or the musician/(s) won't feel the specialness that is the GIFT Gift Economy Potluck. So here's what we can do, to try this out...
After our planting, we'll have lunch with the musical guest.
That way, we can serve this intention of connection through conversation, but not close ourselves off to the real joys that music, guest lecturers, etc, might bring.
And if, after trying this out together, you miss our quieter potlucks, let me know. If after this, you love live music + planting, also let me know in the comment below.
